If fondue is your taste, then the Melting Pot is your place.
The Melting Pot in Novi is part of a chain of upscale restaurants that specialize in the fondue cooking style, which involves letting the customers submerge their own food in hot oil, broth, cheese, or chocolate, using long-handled fondue forks.
When you enter the Melting Pot, you can tell that you are in an upscale venue. Soft jazz plays in the dimly lit restaurant, and a waterfall gurgles inside the front entrance.
The restaurant has a romantic vibe. There are small booths, ideally made for two.
The best values on the menu are the four-course meals for two, which cost around $88.
Drinks are sold separately, and the non-alcoholic drinks, which are like works of art, range from $10-$13. The Yin & Yang and the sage berry lemonade are two of their most popular drinks. The sage lemonade is tastier than your average lemonade because of the added exotic berries. The highly recommended Yin & Yang is a combination of Godiva white chocolate, milk, and ice cream, topped with chocolate shavings. This drink looks like the Chinese Yin & Yang symbol.
The Alp and Dell Cheese Fondue is the first course in the Lobster Indulgence meal. The Alp and Dell Cheese Fondue is a combination of various cheeses and seasonings, all of which are mixed and melted right on your table. Small pickles, fresh bread cubes, and Granny Smith apple pieces are served to dip in the cheese. All were tasty once dipped in the mixture, but the presence of garlic was too strong. After eating the cheese, a taste of garlic lingered.
The next course was the salads. The house salad was very fresh, and had a unique taste because it was made with spinach leaves instead of the traditional Romaine or its lower rent cousin, iceberg. It was drizzled with the house dressing, which was pleasantly sweet.
The third course, which was the glamorous main course, was the Lobster Indulgence. This course included an artfully arranged platter of raw lobster, shrimp, chicken, steak and bi-color ravioli, each bite of which had to be cooked by the customer, at the table.
Most diners pick the hot oil for this course. Others select the Coq au Vin cooking style in which the food is boiled in a mixture of various oils and wine. An overwhelming array of different sauces accompanies the course. Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and barbecue sauce were among the sauces served; but the Green Goddess, which is a house sauce, was the best. It perfectly complemented the chicken and the steak.
The Amaretto Melt Down was the dessert course. It was an aromatic white chocolate fondue that came with chopped bananas, strawberries, Rice Krispy treats, a slice of cheesecake, and marshmallows. Brown sugar sprinkled over the top made for a beautiful presentation.
The Melting Pot is more than just an elegant restaurant; it is an elegant restaurant that serves great food. But it isn’t an everyday stop. Its prices and decor make it a restaurant for only the most special occasions.
IF YOU GO:
THE MELTING POT
26425 Novi Road, Novi, MI
Website:
meltingpot.com
HOURS:
Monday – Thursday 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Friday 5 p.m.- 11 p.m.; Saturday 12 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m.- 10 p.m.
PRICES:
Expensive; bring plastic
MENU ITEMS:
Cheese, chocolate, & hot oil fondue, along with gourmet drinks and salads.
PHONE:
248-347-6358
Expensive; bring plasticCheese, chocolate, & hot oil fondue, along with gourmet drinks and salads. 248-347-6358
This restaurant’s rating: * * * *
Key to ratings:
* * * * * Must visit
* * * * Mmm, good
* * * Above average
* * Nothing special
* Avoid it